In a 3 year period, how did we end up with so many holes on this team.

[Jrb1979]

Why so many holes? This sums it up. 

 

This is from a tweet from Bruce Nolan

 

"Since the 2018 Bills draft that included Allen, Edmunds, and Taron Johnson, they have acquired, through draft or FA, 4 players I would consider to be no-brainer "sign them to market/close to market contracts when theirs are up":

 

Mitch Morse

Daquan Jones

Tyler Bass

Sam Martin"

Edited January 26, 2023 by Jrb1979

[newcam2012]

14 hours ago, Bob in STL said:

I really don't see a lot of holes, but I see it will be difficult to upgrade as much as needed.

 

 RB - If Singletary leaves we have Cook, can probably find someone in the draft around 4-5 and in free agency

WR - Top 3 spot, next year Shakir should be better and maybe Davis matures more as a full time starter

C/G - Top 3 pick needed,  probably gonna look at F/A as well

CB  - Elam and Benford both showed promise, Tre will be back so will Taron and Dane

S   - Poyer gone, Hyde may be back, Hamlin probably gone -  Top 3 pick here

LB - Edmunds will likely be tagged. 

DL - bring back the crew plow Von all season

You don't see a lot of holes? You have to be kidding me. You are as good as your last game. Did you see the last game the Bills played? Both lines got destroyed, the Bills secondary couldn't stop the pass and the line couldn't stop the run. The Bills offense scored 10 points. The best WR for the Bills was Cole Beasley. I did like the Bills punter though. 

14 hours ago, BillsShredder83 said:

if i had the pick over obviously id do it differently. that said he was drafted knowing year 1 would be a redshirt. i cant say i know what the vision is, but it was at a position we def werent reaching for. there must have been SOMETHING that stuck out about him. hoping he took/takes advantage of that redshirt year, and we get to see exactly what they saw.  supposedly a smart player, and he looked explosive blitzing.

 

100% not defending the pick at all, but there IS a plan (could be an awful one?).  wish we had a do over, next best thing is his red shirt gave us a tool of sorts

The guy gave the Bills zero production. When he sniffed the field he was bad. The pick was a huge reach and never made sense. Stop trying to see the glass half full here because it's empty. 

[colin]

it's true our drafting has been pure cheeks outside of josh, but that's not the whole answer.

 

our coaching seems like it is set and forget w josh rescuing us regularly to beat up on the weak and limited, but not enough adjusting/preperation for the big dogs in the playoffs.

 

in terms of roster tho, we don't develop/play rookies enough.  that LB having like one bad game and no other exposure, elam sitting so much, cook and shakir sitting behind motor and mckenzie because they made mistakes THAT THE STARTERS MAKE EVEN WORSE THAN THEY DO!  

 

i think we have a cultural like union ship mentality that is hurting us.  we don't give the new guys enough of a shot (i remember peterman starting over allen, for shame!) and most importantly we over pay for role players who are great "cultural fits".  knox was paid a bit too much, you could argue that milano was too (he's a sick player tho, so that's marginal).  

 

We run this kinda fragile defensive scheme that relies on pass rush out of 4 platooned DL, but we still paid milano (again player is worth it but investing in the position like that in our D is sus) and paid top 3 corner money for tre, and top safety money for hyde and poyer, and now we are talking big dollars for edmunds?  von coming in and falling out made a huge measurable impact in our d, similar (but less) w D Jones.  we were a mash unit in the secondary for most of the season and sort of had the same results.

 

imo we need to be smart about where we dump resources, money contracts and draft picks.  trading a first for diggs (even tho jefferson woulda been there and turned out great, we don't know we woulda taken him and we didn't know at the time he woulda been there) was actually an astute and great move.  signing brown adn bease at the time was great. signing morse was a + move, over paid but good guy.  we need more of that (and d jones and perhaps miller, injury will determine) and less aj klien and over paying dbs in a db protecting d.

[BarleyNY]

30 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

If it was such a fluky "perfect shot" and not a preexisting condition, then I could see the possibility. Especially with him being only 24 and in good shape prior.

 

That Premier League soccer player came back like 200 days later. Not an exact comparison, but a decent example.

 

Fingers crossed that it's 50/50.

In any event the Bills can’t count on him coming back next season. If we do get him back, it’s a nice bonus. 

[TheFunPolice]

This team has relied on Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs to be the entire offense and invested all of its premium resources on the defense. 

 

Those picks have been mediocre to bad, and the defense has been a tremendous letdown 3 YEARS IN A ROW in the playoffs. This year, for the first time, the offense was as well because it's Allen, Diggs, and a bunch of spare parts. 

 

 

 

 

[Matt_In_NH]

Beane talked about cap casualties.  Who are the candidates there.   Also makes another hole.  

[Big Turk]

You must not look at other teams very much.

[DrDawkinstein]

19 hours ago, Airseven said:

Amazing going into the season the consensus here was that Bills had best and deepest roster in NFL.

 

Not just here, but fans from other teams and the media all agreed.

 

Heck, posters here were questioning why Beane was bothering with all 8 picks since we didnt have 8 roster spots for them to even take!

[Royale with Cheese]

I honestly don't think we are as bad upfront as our production indicates.  I really think it's a philosophical problem.  I think we are too predictable and protections can be schemed against us easily and QB's/WR's identify what the coverage is and that's why they can get it out quickly.  

 

It's like we are a Madden defense on easy mode.  Zach Wilson is a dumb QB, he can't process ***** and he looked effective against us.  

[BearNorth]

Based on the 2022 season the following Bills starters are graded in the bottom half of the league at their respective positions:

I've included Player age

RG Bates (26)

WR2 Davis (24)

SS Poyer (32)

Slot McKenzie (28)

C Morse (31)

CB1 White (Injury in 2021) (28)

CB2 Jackson (26)

RT Brown (25)

LG Saffold (35)

 

9/22 starters graded in bottom half of the league...

[Eastport bills]

One bad loss and we have so many holes? The O-line needs a guard/ctr,a depth guard and a depth tackle. A better O-line coach might be more important. The D-line has Miller,Rousseau , Jones and Oliver with Settle and Epenesa for depth. LB will require Edmunds resigning or 1st rd lb because our defense wants to play with 5 db. We need another receiver and rb to replace Motor. We need another Safety to replace Poyer. So we need 6 or 7 players. What team couldn’t use 6 or 7 upgrades.  With our core players, a new DC and strategic upgrades we could be better next year.

[ngbills]

https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2023/1/26/23571816/brandon-beane-buffalo-bills-draft-free-agency-success-2023-season

[JerseyBills]

Bad drafting. 

Point blank period 

 

We got some nice role players but zero elite guys. Except Allen, Diggs , white , Milano and Edmunds 

 

[IronyAbounds]

Let's review. 2019, Bills lose WC Round in tight contest with Texans. 2020, Bills reach Conference Championship, losing in a not that close game after two wins in the prior rounds, including a fairly dominating win over Ravens. 2021, Bills destroy Pats in WC Round and lose heartbreaker to Chiefs in Divisional Round due to coaching staff brain farts. 2022. Barely escape WC Round over Dolphins who have rookie QB, then get dominated in Divisional Round vs. Bengals. 2019 better than 2018, 2020 better than 2019, 2021 probably about the same as 2020 (loss in earlier round, but played Chiefs tougher), and then a distinct drop off in 2022 (regular season record not as important as showing in playoffs). In 2019 and 2020 the Bills definitely had talent that was reasonably young and improving, and I think that improvement showed up in 2021. Not so sure that the carry over talent from 2022 is improving, and not so sure that there are more young and improving guys vs. older and declining guys. Even given the injuries in 2022, I doubt standing pat or making relatively minor changes are going to cut it, and there are more limited options for improving the team in 2023 than existed in earlier years. Doesn't mean the Bills won't get there since the playoffs are sometimes a crap shoot that depends on match-ups. But I'm a bit skeptical that they are really that close to a Super Bowl.

[Bob in STL]

On 1/26/2023 at 7:59 AM, newcam2012 said:

You don't see a lot of holes? You have to be kidding me. You are as good as your last game. Did you see the last game the Bills played? Both lines got destroyed, the Bills secondary couldn't stop the pass and the line couldn't stop the run. The Bills offense scored 10 points. The best WR for the Bills was Cole Beasley. I did like the Bills punter though. 

 

Huge over reaction.  Take a breath.  We need help on the OL which I stated many times over the past 3 years.   We can use Legit #2 WR.  
 

The DL needs some help too.  Von will be back, that’s a start. 
 

I listed 6 positions that need help, DB included.   Rebuild not needed, just a re-tool.  We don’t have cap space or premium draft picks so they have to smart with who they bring in, and coach up the rest.  
 

We were 14-4, they played one bad game, they were mentally spent.  Turn down the panic.  

[Nextmanup]

On 1/25/2023 at 3:26 PM, Process said:

Past five years we've taken 3 RBs in the first 3 rounds.

This would be fantastically hilarious, if it wasn't so devastatingly depressing.

 

 

[newcam2012]

1 minute ago, Bob in STL said:

Huge over reaction.  Take a breath.  We need help on the OL which I stated many times over the past 3 years.   We can use Legit #2 WR.  
 

The DL needs some help too.  Von will be back, that’s a start. 
 

I listed 6 positions that need help, DB included.   Rebuild not needed, just a re-tool.  We don’t have cap space or premium draft picks so they have to smart with who they bring in, and coach up the rest.  
 

We were 14-4, they played one bad game, they were mentally spent.  Turn down the panic.  

No panic here whatsoever. Just a breath of reality here. The Bills do have a lot of holes and your take mentions them. You properly admit the cap space limitations and no premium picks. That's called being handcuffed. 

 

Based on past drafts and acquisitions why would you have confidence that this organization will get it right? You have pounded the table for years about the oline. Three years and counting. The Oline still isn't good which has been a consistent theme for years. But heck, this is the year they will get it right despite the above mentioned circumstances. Based on this logic, I have some land to sell you if you are interested. 

 

When have the Bills coached up their players. Isn't that what many have said about Kormer? The Oline is going to be solid because he will coach them up. How's that working out? How have the dline guys been coached up?

 

The coaching staff especially the coordinators are the weak spot of the team. Dorsey and Fraizer were abused vs Cinci. Coach McD will not lead this team to the Superbowl with this supporting cast.

 

I agrue after next season's disappointment McD and Beane will stay aboard and blame the failure ob Dorsey and Fraizer. They will be the fall guys. 

[Jrb1979]

IMO I think those that are opposed to change is they are afraid the team won't be as good and possibly go back to the drought years. 

[PrimeTime101]

44 minutes ago, Bob in STL said:

Huge over reaction.  Take a breath.  We need help on the OL which I stated many times over the past 3 years.   We can use Legit #2 WR.  
 

The DL needs some help too.  Von will be back, that’s a start. 
 

I listed 6 positions that need help, DB included.   Rebuild not needed, just a re-tool.  We don’t have cap space or premium draft picks so they have to smart with who they bring in, and coach up the rest.  
 

We were 14-4, they played one bad game, they were mentally spent.  Turn down the panic.  

Sorry, this is not over-reaction Monday or Tuesday, This is reality and you poked holes in your own story.

 

We need.

 

Depth at the HB Position

A starting guard (not that we know what one looks like around here lately)

A starting RT. Ditto

a true #2 WR and not a fake want a bee. 

3 starters on offense. You following me so far? 

 

A Starting DT

A Starting ILB (god knows we wont have the money to pay Edmunds)

A Starting FS. Poyer likely not staying either

3 starters on Defense.

 

6 huge holes.

 

I have only touched on depth at the HB position.

 

OH YEA. And we start at less then 10 mil to the good at the beginning of the year. Maybe restructuring JA and adding 10-15 mil will help but we have 37 contracts going into the new football season. You can maybe argue the DT position or the LB position... but come on... our depth on both lines is sloppy at best.

 

This is not about over reaction... oh no no no... this is the reality of the situation.  

 

Then people talking about "oh we stuch a bad team with holes then why did we win 14 games" 

1. We have a dude named Josh Allen

2. Our Defense is built to beat the average at best teams but we tend to struggle with good teams... 2-3 years in a row.

 

This isn't over reaction. this is a dose of reality..

[BananaB]

Poor development. Young players hardly see the field and most of the vets they bring in are just average players